Chasing Fear

CHASING FEAR BRANDT LEGG CONTENTS Copyright Introduction Chapter 1 Chapter 2 Chapter 3 Chapter 4 Chapter 5 Chapter 6 Chapter 7 Chapter 8 Chapter 9 Chapter 10 Chapter 11 Chapter 12 Chapter 13 Chapter 14 Chapter 15 Chapter 16 Chapter 17 Chapter 18 Chapter 19 Chapter 20 Chapter 21 Chapter 22 Chapter 23 Chapter 24 Chapter 25 Chapter 26 Chapter 27 Chapter 28 Chapter 29 Chapter 30 Chapter 31 Chapter 32 Chapter 33 Chapter 34 Chapter 35 Chapter 36 Chapter 37 Chapter 38 Chapter 39 Chapter 40 Chapter 41 Chapter 42 Chapter 43 Chapter 44 Chapter 45 Chapter 46 Chapter 47 Chapter 48 Chapter 49 Chapter 50 Chapter 51 Chapter 52 Chapter 53 Chapter 54 Chapter 55 Chapter 56 Chapter 57 Chapter 58 Chapter 59 Chapter 60 Chapter 61 Chapter 62 Chapter 63 Chapter 64 Chapter 65 Chapter 66 Chapter 67 Chapter 68 Chapter 69 Chapter 70 Chapter 71 Chapter 72 Chapter 73 Chapter 74 Chapter 75 Chapter 76 Chapter 77 Epilogue Acknowledgments A Note From the Author About the Author Books by Brandt Legg Chasing Fear (A Chase Malone Thriller) Published in the United States of America by Laughing Rain Copyright © 2023 by Brandt Legg All rights reserved. Cataloging-in-Publication data for this book is available from the Library of Congress. ISBN-13: 978-1-935070-78-8 ISBN-10: 1-935070-78-9 Without limiting the rights under copyright reserved above, no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in or introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form, or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, scanning, recording, or otherwise, without the prior written permission of both the copyright owner and the publisher. Published in the United States of America. PUBLISHER’S NOTE This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are products of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, businesses, events or locales is entirely coincidental. BrandtLegg.com CHASING FEAR The 11th Chase Malone Thriller Brandt Legg CHASE MALONE THRILLERS Chasing Rain Chasing Fire Chasing Wind Chasing Dirt Chasing Life Chasing Kill Chasing Risk Chasing Mind Chasing Time Chasing Lies Chasing Fear Chasing Lost Learn more about Brandt here. Join Brandt’s Inner Circle here. Discover more of Brandt’s books here. Find Brandt on Facebook here. ONE Sunday. 5:57 am Eastern time. New York City. Chase and Wen stood on the abandoned antique concrete platform of New York City’s first subway station. The wide, arched opening above them read CITY HALL, just as it had on its opening day in October of 1904. “This is such a bad idea,” Wen said, adjusting the straps of her backpack. The ghostly, yet elegant space they found themselves in had sat unused since it had closed just after the end of World War II. “Should have brought Terminators,” she added. The private army they’d formed to fight in the shadow wars had recently taken on the AI-inspired name. “We need this guy, and he wouldn’t come unless we were alone,” Chase said, not happy to be rehashing this debate minutes before their contact was expected to show up. He thought it was a moot point anyway. They both knew half a dozen Terminators were just above them in City Hall Park. For two years, since the End Game had begun, Chase had been trying to get someone on the inside to talk. Finally, someone had agreed, someone high up in the corruption tree: the Deputy Chief of Staff to the Mayor of New York. However, the mayor was more than a city official, he was one of two candidates running for president of the United States with the general election less than ninety days away. “Back when I was on the wire,” Wen said, referring to her time with the MSS, China’s equivalent to the CIA, “we called this type of situation dinner at a slaughterhouse. The meat might be fresh, but it’s going to be your last meal.” Chase laughed. “It must make sense in Mandarin, but I think something got lost in translation.” She glared at him. “Point being, this is a deathtrap.” “No.” He pointed up at the vaulted Guastavino tiled ceilings, natural light filtering in through vintage, leaded-glass skylights. “Don’t you feel like we’ve traveled back in time? Imagine the history that came through here.” “I know the history!” Wen always researched everything. “The City Hall Station originally served as the southern terminus of the Manhattan Main Line, designed by Heins & LaFarge and built by Interborough Rapid Transit Company. It’s been closed since 1945, and thus earned its nickname as ‘the ghost station’ or ‘the lost stop’. Because of the chandeliers, curves, and arches, in its day it was likened to a miniature Grand Central Station.” She pointed to the features to which she referred. “Though, after the final Brooklyn Bridge stop, the tracks are still used as a turnaround for the 6 train, but the station itself remains closed, and given its proximity to City Hall, is considered a high-security location. No one gets in without clearance.” “Except us.” “Us and the Deputy Chief of Staff.” She checked the tunnels again, then eyed the staircase. The once magnificent setting, decorated with glittering chandeliers and other accruements, was now muted by a thick layer of dust, rust, and water damage. “Why here?” “Just what you said. No one gets in here. No cameras, no way he gets seen talking to us.” “He’s late.” Chase checked his phone. “Three minutes is hardly late.” But he knew it was to Wen, who valued precision and professionalism. Many times he had seen her calculating and achieving incredible feats only because she understood how much could be accomplished in each of the sixty-seconds contained in a final minute. “Here he comes,” Wen said. “Or it better be him.” She listened to the footsteps and immediately deduced it was only one person, male, between one-hundred eighty and two hundred pounds, tall, probably six-two. Unfortunately she couldn’t tell if he was armed, but experience told her he